Hi Care63,

Welcome to the Community.

I would recommend you to perform system diagnostics to ensure it is not an issue with the hardware. To launch diagnostics, turn on the system and tap F12 key to access One Time Boot Menu. Highlight diagnostics and hit enter . For more information click the link mentioned below:

http://dell.to/RO1v0p

Please refer to the link mentioned below for information on error codes:

http://dell.to/12IFoz8

Please keep me posted with the results.

Thanks & Regards
Manshu S
#iworkfordell

Thank you so much for your speedy response!!! I will try your suggestions & get back to you... Thanks again SO MUCH!! :o)

Today (5/2/2013) I actually did try running the Dell Diag's (I somehow managed to miss this option & for some reason I didn't see anything about it online either…maybe it's info overload blindness or something?) & here is what I got:

During the "Read Test" I got this:

Error Code: 0F00:0244

MSG: Block 177182: Uncorrectable data error or media is write protected

During the "Verify Test" I got this:

Error Code: 0F00:1A44

MSG: Block 177182: Uncorrectable data error or media is write protected

However, I am not sure this is the same thing you mentioned b/c the error codes I received do not match anything on the page you listed...  Am I doing the right test?

Thank you so much in advance for all of your help!! ;o)

Remove the hard drive, mount it in an external case (most likely EIDE -- not SATA, but check the existing drive before buying the case) and attach it to a working system by USB.  You may be able to recover at least some data, but the drive is on its way to the recycling bin.